CREATING A KINDNESS CIRCLE ©Judith Trustone 2009
BY JUDITH TRUSTONE
Ideally there should be a space where up to ten-twelve people can sit silently on chairs in circles without noise and distractions, with an empty chair placed in the middle. (For larger groups break up into more than one circle of ten-twelve. Post a sign if you can saying “KINDNESS CIRCLE IN PROGRESS: PLEASE DON’T DISTURB.”
Materials needed: a clock or watch, perhaps a small bell to signal when it’s time to switch, a boom box playing soft, meditative music if possible. One person volunteers to be a timekeeper, or you can play our soon-to-be-released guided CD, “Creating a Kindness Circle” which takes participants through the whole process.
Everyone sits in a circle. There can be more than one circle in a room if there is space. Or if there are only two of you, sit facing each other with your hands linked. Place an empty chair in the middle. One person gets up and sits on the middle chair. Begin the music or guided CD (or silence). Everyone in the circle links hands.
Imagine that deep within the earth is a brilliant ball of light, like the sun, the Light of Kindness (or whatever you wish to call it,) that you are drawing up with your body through the many earth layers…up through the ground…the building you’re in…through the floor of the room…into your feet…up your legs…into your spine…slowly and gently moving up your spine…through your neck…coming out the top of your head like a whale’s spout…cascading all around you like a waterfall of Light of Kindness…so you are both filled with and wrapped in The Light of Kindness …allow the light to also flow out your right hand into the left hand of the person sitting to your right…and allow the light coming from the circle through the person on your left to flow through you, reducing your stress, suffusing your being with the Light of Kindness…now imagine that your heart has little doors on it and open those doors….through the doors, send the Light of Kindness toward the person sitting in the middle…continue the flow both around the circle and toward the center…after two to three minutes, the person in the middle silently comes back into the circle and the person to their left sits in the empty chair…and once again, let the flow begin…allow your stresses to melt away…while you send and receive the Light of Kindness…all in total silence…
Continue this for an agreed upon half an hour or more, until everyone has had a chance to receive. Maintain silence the entire time.
The beauty of these Kindness Circles is that they work, they’re free, they’re good for your health, and there’s no need for talking, for we are all seeking the Light of Kindness.
For questions: Judith Trustone, Director, Sagewriters and the Global Kindness Revolution info@Trustonekindness.com